Gas-furnace for melting glass



(No Model.)

J. ANDERSON.

GAS FURNAGE FOR MELTING GLASS, M. No. 307,829. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

h I E111 u 1'. 1. Adm/M 4 A414 dif J I llNiTnn STATES PATENT @rrrcn-JOSEPH ANDERSON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-FURNACE FOR MELTING GLASS, 8 4,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 307,829, dated November11, 1884.

Application filed August 28, IFS-l. (N model.)

To (oZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JosEPH ANDERSON, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Gas-Furnaces for Melting Glass, &c.; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

My invention relates particularly to the construction of glass-meltingfurnaces designed for use with gas, and more particularly natural gas;and it consists of certain improvements on the construction shown in myapplication, No. 137,395, filed July 11, 1884. The natural gas beingsupplied by means of mains and service or distributing pipes to thevarious works and places of use, itis olten necessary for the gascompanies to turn off the gas in order to make the attachments or repairs, and the gas is frequently turned off for a sufficient length oftime to chill the glass in the pots, so that not only is the melt orbatch lost, but the furnace is practically destroyed, as itis necessaryto take it down to remove the pots. Consequently it becomes a veryserious difficulty in the use of gas for such purposes.

My invention is designed, among other things, to obviate this danger andto provide means for sustaining the temperature of the furnace in casethe gas is turned off.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which--Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a glass-melting furnace,showing my improve ment. Fig. 2 is a detached view of the gas pipes andburner. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line it x of Fig. 1.

Like letters of refercnceindicate like parts in each.

The furnace shown in the drawings is the ordinary form of a pot-furnacefor melting glass, and the pipes shown in Fig. l are divided on the liney 3 of Fig. 2. The furnace has the usual bench, a, for supporting thepots '1), eye 0, crown d, work-holes c, and fiues f. Below the bench ais an air-chamber, g, having closed sides and a door or man-hole, 9.Above the crown d of the furnace is a ring or coil of pipe, it, havingan open end, 7;, for the admissionof air, and a valve, 75 for regulatingits supply to the chamber 9, so as to proportion it to the amount of gasadmitted there to. The pipe k extends down the side of the furnace,either outside of the wall, as shown at 7:", or through the wall, ifdesired, to the side of the chamber 9, which it enters through the wall9 The pipe 70 is designed to effect the heating of the air which issupplied to the chamber 9, to support the combustion of the gas or otherfuel therein. The air entering at the open end It is drawn through thecoil 7;, and thence through the vertical pipe is, into the chamber 9 bythe influence of the draft of the stack 71. The gas is supplied to thefurnace by means of the pipes 'i, which extend through the walls 9* ofthe chamber 9, and are connected by suitable fittings with the gasmainThe flow of the gas is regulated by means of the valves 2". The burner Zis composed of two semicircular pipes Z, forming a ring of largerdiameter than that of the eye 0, so as to be under the protect-ion ofthe bench at, in order that in case of the breaking of a pot in thefurnace the molten glass flowing down through the eye shall not come incontact with the burner and clog up its p erfora tions. The burner isperforated on its inner upper side, so that the jets of gas shall beprojected toward the eye 0. Each semicircle of the pipes which form theburner is connected to one of the pipes i, in which is a union, i", sothat if either of the semicircles Z becomes clogged up or needs repairsit can be taken out by detaching the pipe connected to it at the union 1By this arrangement it is possible to remove one half of the burnerwithout interrupting the operation of the other half, so that anaccident to one portion will not endanger the furnace, as the heat canbe sustained by the use of the remaining half.

Entering the horizontal pipes i at the littings a are smaller pipes m,which are connected to a supply-pipe, m, and which are provided withvalves W. The pipe in is designed to supply benzine or other suitablelight hydrocarbon; or it may be connected with agasholder or otherreservoir of gas so as to be independent of the main 2' for its supply.This provision is made so that in case the gas-supply from the pipe 2'is turned off the fuel, gaseous or liquid, necessary for maintaining theheat of the furnace may be supplied from the pipe m, which can beaccomplished merely by opening the valves m and allowing the gas orliquid fuel to flow therefrom to the burner through the pipes '1 In thismanner I am enabled to obviate all danger to the furnace arising fromthe stoppage of gas from the main My improvement is of great value inaglassmelting orsimilar furnace where any interruption of the heat isattended with serious and detrimental results. It is simple and cheap inconstruction, easily operated, and trees the furnace from absolutedependence upon one fuelsupply.

I do not limit myself to the use of my improvement in glass furnaces,but claim it also in connection with other furnaces, especially those inwhich it is desirable to maintain a given temperature in the furnace.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of a furnace gas-burner and its gassupply pipe orpipes with secondary supply -pipes communicating therewith and havingsuitable valves, whereby the burner can be supplied with fuel from saidsecondary supply-pipes, in case of the interruption of supply throughits ordinary pipes, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A burner for heating purposes, composed of two semicircular sections,each connected to a separate pipe for supplying gaseous or liquid fuelthereto, and together forming a circularburner, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

3. A burner for heating purposes, composed of two separate sections,each connected to a separate pipe for supplying gaseous or liquid fuelthereto, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day ofAugust, A. D. 1884.

J OSEP II ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

XVIB. COR\V1N, THOMAS E. KERR.

